


Eating Vinegar

by Anonymous



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Language Barrier, M/M, first meeting awkwardness, slow romantic development because hoshi, soonhui, supportive little fluffballs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-05
Updated: 2016-12-05
Packaged: 2018-08-15 19:00:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8068975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Soonyong and Junhui have been close as roommates, and Soonyoung was probably the first Korean member Junhui grew close to, they still laugh at the initial language barrier they had as children which lead to many misunderstandings. So of course Soonyoung was more than happy to hear that he'd be able to continue working with Junhui as members of the Performance Unit, but there was a very important question he had to address first."Why does he always cling to The8 like that?""Are you jealous?""What?"





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [galaxytaos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxytaos/gifts).



> Ahhh hopefully this was satisfactory... I wanted to write something for all of the prompts since they were all amazing, but ;;;;; uggghhh (I still plan on doing more from those though, especially the non-au ones [I'm just not very confident in aus atm, they're still something I have to explore more ;w;]
> 
> There is a HUGE chunk of just useless mental stuff going on in Soonyoung's head after the predebut scene, but it gets fluffier (hopefully) after the line break.
> 
> Note: "To eat vinegar" is a Mandarin slang that means to get jealous.

_These boys will become your future teammates, be sure to treat each other nicely and get along. You will be each other's family members from today on._

That's what they said, but... how was he supposed to become "family" with these boys he literally just met, not to mention he could barely understand what they were saying. A lot of them already grouped up together, started chatting and getting to know each other, then there was Junhui, completely lost. His translator wasn't with him anymore, and he wasn't all that confident with his speaking ability even though his Korean teacher had insisted that he was ready, and by talking with native speakers he would be able to pick up things faster.

"Um..." He looked around to see if he could potentially join in on any conversations, but it was no use, he could only hear the loud thumping of his heartbeat in his ears, and he felt a huge headache coming on. He swore, standing in front of a rolling camera in front of his fellow actors, the director, and crew members was nothing to him, but this situation was truly nerve-wrecking.

_Calm down, calm down... things will work out as long as I remain positive. Just try saying hi to someone, Junhui._

"Hi!" Before he could summon the courage to greet the first person who came close enough, he was suddenly ambushed from behind. Junhui quickly turned around to see a young boy fairly shorter than him with pale skin and very, very narrow slits for eyes. His grin was wide, and it was probably the first time Junhui felt that the description "smiling from ear to ear" was meant to be taken literally.

In short, the boy had an extremely bright and cheerful aura around him, completely contrary to Junhui's stiff and nervous self.

"Um, hi..." Junhui replied quietly, subconsciously narrowing his own eyes. _How can he see anything out of those...?_

"I'm Kwon Soonyoung! What's your name?" The boy, Soonyoung, continued, reaching out a hand for Junhui to shake.

Junhui swallowed with difficulty, shaking the offered hand nervously, and then just stopped there with their hands still connected but not moving, to the point that he actually felt sweat seeping between their fingers. What did he ask him again?

_Name... name... oh, right!_

"J-Junhui. Wen Junhui." Junhui finally said, surprised at how patient the other boy was with him, the wide grin on Soonyoung's face hadn't faltered at all.

"I see! That's an interesting name, I guess I could have just read your shirt though." Soonyoung laughed, indicating to the two printed characters on Junhui's clothing.

Junhui swallowed nervously again and tried to return the smile, but it just came out stiff. Man, they were all talking so fast... It took him an average of three seconds to process one sentence, and by the time he sorted his own words out, they've already moved onto a different topic.

And thus, he was often referred to as "the quiet one" even though that was against his personality. But he guessed that he just had to deal with it for now. It was probably best if he didn't talk much for the time being, at least not until he's improved more with his pronunciation.

It didn't take long for him to bond with the only other Chinese member back then, Mingming, and with his help, he managed to break out of his initial silent image with the members and bonded with them more even though the language barrier still felt like an issue to him at times.

"Junhui's been becoming pretty active, huh? I'm kind of surprised, since he doesn't talk much." Soonyoung had commented to Jihoon as they watched Junhui playing around with the dongsaengs.

"It's probably because of the language barrier. He's been improving though." Jihoon replied, tuning his guitar on the side.

"What language barrier?"

"Uh, he's Chinese and this is his first year in Korea?"

"WHAT?!"

"...You didn't know that?"

"I DIDN'T! I ACTUALLY DIDN'T!"

"Okay, you need to stop screaming before I find another usage for my guitar." Jihoon grumbled impatiently, looking up at Soonyoung menacingly from his place on the floor.

Soonyoung looked over at Junhui with disbelief. He guessed he kind of zoned out when the staff was making basic introductions of all of the members, to be fair, there were _a lot_ of them, "His Korean's pretty good then."

"I guess. He doesn't talk a lot so it's hard to judge." Jihoon replied, "You have to give it to him for learning a new language to complete his goal though."

"Yeah..."

As time progressed, Junhui grew increasingly closer to the other members and gradually started hanging out with the others without needing Mingming by his side. That didn't mean they weren't still close though, and sometimes Soonyoung felt a little jealous of the two who seemingly shared a particularly stronger bond due to their similar situations as the "foreigners" of the group.

Later on, the staff introduced Jeonghan into the group, who later grew close to Jisoo as the latter helped him out as someone who's been in the "newcomer" spot as well. Soonyoung was amazed by the sight of Junhui holding Jeonghan on his lap one day when he entered the practice room. Turns out Junhui was actually pretty good at making friends despite the initial awkwardness when they first met.

"Soonyoung!" Junhui exclaimed, waving the boy over.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" Soonyoung asked, smiling brightly as he approached the two, then noticed that Jisoo was sitting on the side with his guitar, strumming a couple of chords, "Impromptu guitar concert featuring Jisoo-hyung?"

Junhui let out a delayed laugh, finally figuring out the joke. These delayed reactions were starting to stand out more to Soonyoung ever since he realized Junhui's "issue", and now that he was talking more, his accent became more prominent to Soonyoung especially for certain words.

That's why he offered to take on the task of fixing Junhui's pronunciation for a song cover they were working as a team. He thought Junhui would be offended, but the latter was actually very eager to learn. When they first met, Soonyoung hadn't expected him to be the ecstatic type, but he was; in fact, he hated being stuck in one position for too long and claimed that he constantly needed to move.

This trait of Junhui's became even more evident when Soonyoung walked in on him falling asleep one day on the side with nothing to do.

"Junhui!"

"Gah!"

Their peaceful days continued on, until one day they were told of Mingming's leave. Soonyoung thought Junhui would be affected the most, but the latter surprisingly didn't have much of a reaction towards the news, it was possible that Mingming probably told him beforehand and they've already sorted things out then.

Still, even though Junhui had established pretty tight relationships with the other members (Wonwoo, Hansol, and Seungcheol in particular), Soonyoung couldn't help but feel that he looked lonely without Mingming hovering around him, play-fighting with him.

"Here's a thought, why don't I teach you Korean, and you can teach me Chinese?" Soonyoung said one day after they became roommates.

"You want to learn Chinese?" Junhui asked, blinking slowly at the odd request.

Soonyoung shrugged, "If I do well, you'll have a buddy to speak Chinese to again, right? Besides, then we'd be even. Kind of."

Junhui chuckled, a big smile spreading on his face, "You're interesting, Soonyoung."

"I don't think that's the right word, but I'll take it."

"...Thank you." Junhui muttered quietly before turning over in his bed and falling asleep.

That was probably when Soonyoung realized that Mingming's departure had put a much greater toll on his current roommate than Junhui let on for his own sake as well as the members'. Perhaps that was also the day Soonyoung set his heart on making sure Junhui didn't feel the missing presence of Mingming by constantly hanging around him when he was alone, tackling him to the ground like what he used to do with Mingming, just fooling around in general.

One day when the trainees were given permission to eat outside during break, they quickly split off into groups according to similar tastes in food. For example, there was the pizza team, the kimchi team, Soonyoung was fine with anything so he just stuck with Jihoon, who had planned on getting pizza earlier with Seungcheol. Then there was Junhui. While the latter seemed pretty accustomed to Korean food, normally he would go off to Chinese restaurants with Mingming, and now he was a at a loss as to what to do with the situation that had aroused for the first time after a certain best friend's leave.

"Junhui, do you want to go eat Chinese food?" Soonyoung suddenly asked, walking all the way across the room to Junhui's little corner he had been wandering around in. Soonyoung smiled brightly at the confused and startled boy, "I suddenly have this craving for Chinese food, do you have any recommendations?"

From then on, he would frequently invite Junhui to go eat Chinese food, or something else if they felt like changing things up a little. Junhui soon felt comfortable enough to invite the others on his own accord, and the others were also eager to have him in their "food group."

Sometimes when practice became particularly stressful, Soonyoung would accidentally let his frustration out on the members when they couldn't get the choreography right, but Junhui was always there to rub him on the back when he returned to their room, assuring him that everything was fine and their group mates weren't mad at him for showing his frustration.

"You're really a great friend, you know that?" Soonyoung had commented.

"...We're friends?"

"Of course, how can you be questioning it now?" Soonyoung laughed, putting an arm around Junhui as the latter returned a wide smile, "We're _best_ friends."

He thought his role would be replaced when Minghao came along to make the China line complete again, so he stopped hovering around Junhui as often, and as expected, the two Chinese members grew close fairly quickly just like what happened with Mingming and Junhui in the beginning. This time it was Junhui's turn to be the "leader".

Still, Soonyoung felt a constant need to look after the two, always glancing over to see if they understood what was going on even though he knew Junhui was already more than capable of taking care of himself (and Minghao) now. He thought this was just how he felt as their friend, and soon-to-be unit leader.

"Your Chinese name is so hard to pronounce... I'm just going to call you Jun." Soonyoung had complained one day during their Chinese lessons and he had asked Junhui how his name was pronounced in his native tongue. Junhui had only laughed at this childish whine.

Little did he know that Junhui would actually use "Jun" as his official stage name because of Soonyoung's careless casual comment, and further more, Soonyoung was later told that Junhui would be sorted into the same unit as him. He thought things could only get better from there, after all, they loved working and dancing together, now they could actually continue it and contribute to the group together, it seemed all too perfect to be true.

"Congrats on becoming the official leader of the Performance Unit. I look forward to working with you." Junhui smiled, putting an arm around Soonyoung's shoulder affectionately as the latter came down from the stage after his "induction".

"Same here! We'll be the best unit!" Soonyoung replied excitedly, jumping up and down like the usual over-caffeinated kid he was... and Junhui just went along with it.

"Aren't you being too excited over such a little thing?" Jihoon rolled his eyes, fixing his newly styled hair in the mirror.

Soonyoung was about to call out Jihoon on being a heartless potato gremlin, but was distracted by Minghao entering the room with his new look completed. Junhui's arm slipped off Soonyoung's shoulder, and the taller male immediately bounded towards the younger Chinese member, pouncing onto him and complimenting his new hair style.

For some reason, that action made Soonyoung's blood run cold and zoned out as he watched Minghao and Junhui banter with each other in Mandarin mixed with Korean.

In hindsight, Soonyoung probably should have viewed that as the first sign.

* * *

Through blood and sweat, they managed to pull through the seemingly hellish reality show that tested their abilities as idols with their debut on the line. Junhui remained quiet throughout the whole thing and mostly stuck with Wonwoo, Mingyu, Seungkwan, and of course, Minghao, for the most part. However, after the ordeal, Junhui came up to him with a shocking new haircut and smiled at Soonyoung.

"Y-you're hair-"

"I'm sorry I wasn't the best supporter while you were going through hardships. I was too busy having my own breakdown... But I've made my resolve, so you can count on me from now on!" Junhui grinned, pulling a snapback over his head in an attempt to give his new haircut some sort of edge while Soonyoung continued to lament the loss of his long hair. It matched his charisma so much, and Junhui was pretty fond of it himself. Even though he claimed in public that his decision to get a haircut was due to Jessi's comment, he never failed to flash Soonyoung a smile before replying.

Soonyoung remembered gaping at how absolutely _gorgeous_ Junhui looked after having makeup applied to him for their performance, not that he wasn't gorgeous before, but _damn_. He wasn't originally scouted for his visuals for nothing. Of course, Soonyoung had always admired Junhui's features, his proportions were just to die for, and after all the rigorous workout they were forced to do in order to train their stamina, his body was seriously no joke, so Soonyoung didn't quite understand why people were kind of oblivious to his existence. Granted they were a very newly debuted group, but still, it almost seemed like no one paid attention to Junhui at all.

Maybe it was due to the fact that he looked as though he aged backwards during their Adore U era, he looked much more boyish compared to his long hair look, and it diminished his presence quite a bit, but at least it fitted the concept they had back then. The company also took advantage of it and gave him the image of a "natural/refreshing look".

That was why when Junhui's hair was restyled for their new era and fans "suddenly" started to notice his stunning visuals, Soonyoung had replied with annoyance, "He's just wearing makeup." What he really wanted to say was, "He's always been handsome." He felt his pride diminish just a little now that people were paying more attention to Junhui, and Soonyoung could no longer claim himself as the only person who knew of Junhui's worth; but at the same time, he felt happy for his teammate, he deserved it, there was no question about it.

Soonyoung was more than happy that he got to sit next to Junhui during one of the fanmeets, and he thought it would be a chance to make up for lost time. Junhui was playful as usual, constantly poking him in the cheek, and Soonyoung played along cheerfully. It was like they were their younger selves again. That was, until Junhui turned his attention towards Minghao instead, leaving Soonyoung to stare off awkwardly into the distance again, occasionally making cute gestures towards the cameras and exchanging brief words with Hansol.

"Soonyoung, do you want to come eat Chinese food with us?" Junhui offered one day when they got permission to move around in individual groups for lunch.

"Huh?" Soonyoung turned see Junhui up and ready to go with Minghao waiting at the door, to no one's surprise, "Erm, it's okay... Jihoon and I were planning on going to eat barbecue with Seokmin."

"All right then." Soonyoung wondered if he was imagining the disappointment in Junhui's voice, "Chan, do you want to come?" The taller dancer called, turning his attention to the maknae sitting in the corner.

"Okay!" Chan immediately piped up, having developed a fond taste for the cuisine, especially since Junhui was good at sniffing out high quality restaurants.

"Have fun!" Soonyoung called after the trio as they left, waving back at him before disappearing outside.

Jihoon looked at him disapprovingly, "I guess now we need to go eat barbecue. Why did you lie?"

"I just, I didn't want to interrupt anything..." Soonyoung replied, looking away and pretending to be very focused on the length of his nails.

The shorter boy only sighed, running a hand through his newly dyed orange hair, "You... are such a piece of work." But he didn't tell Soonyoung to chase after the other three or give him any further advice.

From then on, Soonyoung felt overly conscious whenever Junhui was around, and so accidentally started avoiding him, which the members unfortunately started picking up and urged him to sort things out before the fans noticed as well, especially since last time it was almost painfully obvious that Soonyoung purposely didn't call out for Junhui when he had the other two Performance Unit members rounded up already.

They still had fun dancing together, they had fun working together, and Chan even recognized the chemistry in their dances and suggested that they incorporated it into their new choreography. That was exactly what they did, and it was secretly one of Soonyoung's favorite scenes, with just him and Junhui in the center, dancing and having fun, complimenting each other's movements perfectly.

Disappointingly enough, however, they didn't get to interact much after that due to the group's busy schedule, and Junhui had apparently returned to being fairly quiet, stating that he was training his "quiet handsome" character, telling Soonyoung that he hoped to have a "cool silent image" in the era to come.

Soonyoung couldn't help bringing it up during one of their broadcasts, after all, it was already rare that they had any interaction outside of work, but most importantly, he just wanted to bring something up about Junhui that only he had known. He also made a point of looking out for Junhui during events, making sure he got enough screen time and so on. After all, just because he had some sort of complicated feelings towards Junhui didn't mean that he should neglect his responsibilities as one of the unit leaders.

"All right, guys, round up! We will decide on rooming assignments through drawing straws!" Seungcheol had announced once they settled down in their new dorm, shaking the cup which contained folded up paper slips with room numbers written on them. One-by-one, the members took turns drawing from the cup, and they all unfolded their fates together.

Sighs of relief, screams of delight, and groans of disappointment were heard all around the room.

"Yes, we're in the same room, Xiao Hao Hao!" Junhui exclaimed excitedly, looping his arms around Minghao as he looked over the latter's shoulder.

"Don't call me that." Minghao rolled his eyes, but he patted Junhui's arm gently with an approving grin on his face.

"Oh, I'm in the same room as well." Chan said, holding up his slip of paper.

"No way~ What about you, Soonyoung?" Junhui asked, all three dancers turned towards their leader expectantly.

Soonyoung had caught a glimpse of Chan's paper earlier, so he already knew... "Well, you see, guys, it would be way too coincidental if all four of us were in the same room." He sighed, hanging his head low and noticing a look of disappointment flash across his three unit members, "SO IT MUST BE FATE!" Soonyoung screamed, flipping his paper over, revealing his matching room number with the rest.

"AYYYYYY!!"

"THE PERFORMANCE UNIT ROOM IS THE BEST ROOM!"

"Uh, we're here, too..." Wonwoo mumbled, indicating towards him and Hansol.

Junhui laughed, walking over to the two Hip Hop Unit members and giving them a happy hug. Wonwoo had on a tiny smile, while Hansol went into an elaborate bros' handshake with Junhui that Soonyoung hadn't known existed.

When Soonyoung tried to give Junhui a "bro handshake" during the MV shoot, it turned into a three-way mantis dance instead with Jisoo.

"What does this mean?"

Soonyoung almost jumped when he heard the familiar words coming from behind him, but when he turned, he realized that Junhui had directed the question towards Wonwoo, not him. How long had it been since Junhui needed someone to help him out with Korean? Soonyoung used to be his go-to person, but now it seemed that he didn't even think about coming to him for help of any sort that didn't concern work.

In fact, lately Soonyoung felt like he's been on the receiving end more. When he was asked (jokingly) if he choreographed his own parts to be cooler than others, Junhui was quick to defend him. When his joke was ignored and he pretended to sulk, Junhui comforted him, just like their roles back in their trainee dorms.

He watched from a distance as Wonwoo explained the script to Junhui, later joined by Seungkwan, Minghao, and Mingyu. Soonyoung began to wonder if he was even part of Junhui's circle of "close friends" anymore. The latter had continuously insisted in interviews that he was close with all the members and didn't have a favorite, but he could have just been following the training they received on how to answer certain questions.

When Wonwoo grew ill, Junhui would often pay visits right after practice, even when they've literally been worked to the bone, he would never fail to check in on Wonwoo afterwards. Soonyoung wondered if he would do the same to Soonyoung, or maybe Wonwoo was just special? That was silly, the two were just close friends. Of course, the same could be said for Minghao, even though the latter had admitted that Mingyu was his best friend. Then there was Jeonghan, who seemed like a warm motherly figure to Junhui, and Junhui would in turn do anything to repay Jeonghan's kindness. If Soonyoung really thought hard about it, Junhui seemed to have his "moments" with pretty much all of the members, he really wasn't lying when he said he was close to everyone then...

It was selfish of him, but Soonyoung secretly wished that they could turn back time, back to when Junhui was still awkward about approaching the others due to his language barrier. If he could turn back time, he would be sure to help Junhui out even more than he did, even more than Mingming.

He was reminded of the little awkward hand gestures Junhui would attempt to make when he forgot a certain word. He was also reminded of how Junhui had once teased him during a mini-Korean lesson they had in their room-

_"What was that?"_

_"Saranghae."_

_"Hm... I still don't get it. Say it again?"_

_"Saranghae."_

_"So if I were to say, 'I love Jun', how would that go?"_

_"Sarang- wait, you're just messing with me, aren't you?"_

_"Heh." Junhui had broken into a slightly sheepish smirk as he looked up at Soonyoung, his head tilted to the side._

_"Be serious!" Soonyoung had laughed and punched Junhui in the arm playfully._

Why couldn't they be as casual as they were before? What exactly changed? Junhui didn't change, and Soonyoung was pretty sure he hadn't changed either. He guessed that was something curious about relationships, even if no one changes, it would still be influenced one way or another according to the progression of time.

When they rolled into yet another era, Soonyoung was shocked by the "emergence" of Junhui's biceps thanks to the costume designer who pretty much made Junhui go sleeveless for the majority of their concerts, including fanmeets. So he touched them, he couldn't help it. Well, touch wasn't exactly the right word, he kind of slapped them. Repeatedly. Like the awkward kid he was. Junhui just stared at him with his head tilted, an amused smile quirking up the corner of his lips.

They've been working together on the choreography nonstop, especially with all the new songs and covers that were going to be featured during their tour, and Soonyoung thought that it'd be a chance to reestablish their friendship. While the awkwardness from the last two eras had lessened quite a bit, and they were back to being goofy around each other, Soonyoung still didn't have enough confidence to call himself one of Junhui's closest friends, and he didn't have the courage to ask either.

Who even asks something like that? It'll just make him sound needy or something.

Junhui had cupped Soonyoung's face between his hands for a requested pose, one of his rare large smiles showing as Soonyoung pretended to pout, but ended up breaking into a smile instead. They did a couple more shots before Soonyoung had to break eye contact, he felt that if he didn't, something seriously bad was going to happen, specifically to his heart.

"Hoshi, Hoshi." Junhui called from the side at a fansign event where they were seated next to each other. Soonyoung turned to see Junhui squinting at him, mimicking his 10:10 look with a cheeky smile.

Soonyoung burst into laughter, then turned away to focus his attention on the next fan. He wondered if he was the only one who had noticed the new distance between them compared to when they were younger, because Junhui was definitely acting normal, just his usual playful self. In fact, their chats on KakaoTalk were pretty active, and Junhui would send him selfies at random times, especially when he felt bored at night.

While Soonyoung saved the best ones for himself, he couldn't help revealing a couple on Twitter just to show off how seemingly close they were. Maybe Soonyoung was the only one getting worked up about the whole issue after all...

* * *

The company had decided to give the entire group one to two weeks off in addition to the Chuseok break, Soonyoung had considered going back to school at one point, but he was just so tired from work that he couldn't bring himself to follow through on the plan, not to mention all the other members were heading home to their families as well.

"Didn't you just get back from China though?" He overheard Hansol talking to Junhui as they rested in the living room.

The latter nodded, clearly still tired from the trip as he glanced at his calendar. He hadn't exactly planned for this either. While it was great that he got extra time with his family, he wasn't too keen on making a second trip this soon.

"You, uh, you can stay at my place." Soonyoung suddenly offered, much to the surprise of everyone in the room, including himself. It was almost as though he had made the offer completely from his subconscious, "I-if you want, I mean, I guess you would prefer staying with your own family, but you know, the company's expecting us to clear out, and it's no fun staying here yourself..." The more he rambled on, the more it sounded like he was finding excuses.

Junhui smiled, reaching over to squeeze Soonyoung's hand in his warmly, "Thanks, but actually... My family is visiting this time, so I'll be staying with them at a hotel nearby."

"Oh, well, uh..."

"We could hang out during break though, right?" Junhui continued to smile at him, "We'll keep in contact."

"Yeah..." Soonyoung tried to hide the disappointment in his voice but to no avail.

"Really? You two still want to see each other over break? Don't you get tired of seeing each other's faces all the time?" Seungcheol joked from his place on the sofa, completely lounged out with a pillow on his chest, in a fully relaxed mode.

"What are you talking about? No one can get tired of seeing _this_ face." Junhui motioned to himself, drawing a circle dramatically around his face as the other members scoffed, "Right, Soonyoung?"

"Right."

Junhui looked like he was slightly taken aback by Soonyoung's compliance, but continued on, "See? Why can't you all be cute like Soonyoung?"

Jihoon slowly let his forehead fall against the top of his desk. Seungcheol sat up from the sofa, ignoring the pillow as it rolled off onto the floor. Hansol broke into a guffawing fit. All of this was done much to Junhui's confusion.

"Congratulations, you've killed our choreographer." Seungcheol said, motioning towards the spot next to Junhui. The latter turned to see Soonyoung's pretty much lifeless body on the floor having passed out from Junhui's careless compliment.

"Oh, god! Soonyoung, you okay?!" Junhui shook the younger boy awake, convinced that he had passed out due to fatigue from the tour, which Soonyoung quickly agreed to. The little Junhui knew the better.

But with that accident aside, both had kept to their word and stayed in touch over break, with Junhui sending Soonyoung photos of his family trips and Soonyoung sending him goofy selfies, occasionally serious ones, but only occasionally. Then one day, Junhui suggested that they meet up, just the two of them (or at least that was implied). There was an ice rink near the hotel Junhui's family's been staying at, so he decided to invite Soonyoung over for a casual ~~date~~ afternoon of ice skating.

So of course he wasn't expecting to see a mini more "proper-looking" Junhui right next to the original one when he arrived. The two were standing near the sides of the rink, Mini-Junhui had one hand on the sidebars, and one hand clutching tightly onto Junhui's arm. Soonyoung made his way towards them after tightening the laces on his skates, cheerfully greeting them and trying not to be weirded out by the shocking similarities between the two, especially since Soonyoung still remembered the childhood photos Junhui showed him as a child actor.

"Hey, you made it! This is my brother, Fengjun. He insisted on coming along." Junhui laughed, gently pushing the young boy closer to Soonyoung.

Fengjun smiled brightly up at his brother's colleague, greeting him in Mandarin, at least that was one of the few things Soonyoung understood. He attempted to greet him back in Mandarin, but his pronunciation must had come off funny since Fengjun doubled over laughing, needing Junhui to rebalance him.

The little guy turned out to be very pleasant and extremely polite for his age, Soonyoung couldn't help wondering if he was trained to do so due to his brother's career, which would be a little sad... but the smile and laughter he let out when Soonyoung attempted to communicate with him in Mandarin or when Junhui accidentally fell on his butt from trying to steady Fengjun was definitely genuine. In short, he was a cute kid all around, and Junhui was obviously a very good big brother to him as Soonyoung could see the admiration in his eyes when he looked at his brother. It wasn't exactly the right time, but Soonyoung felt his own pride swelling from being able to see a rare sight of Junhui in his role as an elder brother, and wondered if he'd look at his own child that way.

His own child... that sure went in a pretty weird direction.

Suddenly, Junhui's phone started ringing, and apparently he had to take it. Soonyoung watched as Junhui skated off to the side after asking him (apologetically) to watch Fengjun for the time being. Before he completely went out of earshot though, Soonyoung thought he heard the faint words, "Hey, Mingyu-"

Huh, guess he had kept in touch with the others as well. Why Mingyu of all people though? But that was besides the point. Why should it even matter? It's been established that Soonyoung's not Junhui's only friend, right? He should stop trying to be special or something.

"Soonyoung-gege!" Fengjun called, tugging on his sweater paw.

"O-oh, yes?" Soonyoung blinked, crouching down so that Fengjun could hold onto his shoulder with their heights pretty much leveled, which made it easier to hear each other talk.

Fengjun pronounced his words clearly and slowly as instructed by Junhui, who apparently had a little too much confidence in Soonyoung's Chinese because the only thing he understood from Fengjun's next sentence were "You" and "Eat". Soonyoung's confusion must have been very obvious because Fengjun grinned and repeated his sentence even slower than last time, and this time Soonyoung understood the words, but it still didn't make any sense to him.

"Are you eating vinegar?"

"Am I... eating vinegar?" Soonyoung repeated, blinking rapidly down at the young boy. Was he trying to say that Soonyoung's breath smelled? He quickly tested it out by breathing onto his palm, but he was only met with fits of laughter from Fengjun.

Thankfully, Junhui came back before Soonyoung could embarrass himself any further. It was still an odd comment though, so Soonyoung decided to ask Junhui about it anyway, "Um, does your brother like vinegar or something?"

"Not in particular? Why?" Junhui blinked, helping Fengjun take off his skates near the bench as they prepared to head home.

"Uh, earlier he asked me if I was eating vinegar..." Soonyoung explained, trying not to cringe at how dumb it sounded from his own mouth.

Junhui continued to blink slowly as he glanced over at Fengjun, who still had on a cheeky smile as he looked at his brother, "Oh, he says some weird things sometimes." Junhui replied absentmindedly, ruffling his younger brother's hair playfully.

The three exited the arena and began to walk towards the direction of the hotel where Junhui's family was staying at, Fengjun had insisted on holding both of their hands while they walked, and Soonyoung couldn't help feeling as though he and Junhui were one of those parents taking their son out to play on the weekends.

Of course, it wasn't like that sort of thing could happen in real life, he needed a reality check.

"All right, we're here. Fengjun, say thank you to Soonyoung-gege for walking us back." Junhui said, ruffling Fengjun's hair as the younger boy beamed brightly up at Soonyoung.

"Thank you, Soonyoung-gege~" Fengjun chirped, waving back at Soonyoung along with Junhui as the latter pushed him along so that they weren't blocking the entrance. Before the child disappeared completely behind the sliding doors, he suddenly turned back and shouted over his shoulder towards Soonyoung, "My brother always eats vinegar for you!"

Soonyoung blinked as Junhui leaned down to say something in Fengjun's ear, a stern look on his face as the young boy merely giggled teasingly before running off to press the elevator button.

Junhui sighed before facing the glass again where Soonyoung was still standing outside, he smiled sheepishly and waved at Soonyoung, mouthing something that he couldn't quite make out. So he stepped closer to the glass, and Junhui did the same, motioning for Soonyoung to come even closer until they were just about five centimeters apart with the glass in-between.

The taller dancer smiled, tapping his finger against the area in front of Soonyoung, much to the latter's confusion. His confusion only branched out into more complicated layers when he saw Junhui lean down and kiss the spot, more like, pecked it. The action was so brief that Soonyoung probably would have missed it if he had blinked. Before he could react, Junhui had disappeared into the elevator, and he was only left staring at the already fading imprint Junhui's lips had left on the glass.

Tentatively, he traced his fingers along the fogged up mark from his side of the glass. Junhui was a weird kid indeed.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, noooooooo!" Soonyoung wailed as the mark started fading even faster, he was tempted to call Seungcheol and ask if there was any way to somehow preserve it but then that would mean having to answer questions that even Soonyoung didn't know the answer to himself.

Was that really the case though?

* * *

When the whole group finally met up again as a whole, Seokmin was quick to question Soonyoung whether there was any progress with his "obvious crush" on Junhui. Of course, the dancer was quick to dismiss the crush part, but he told his friend about the whole ice skating event with Junhui's younger brother, and pondered whether to tell him about the "glass kiss." In the end, he went against his good judgment and told both Seokmin and Jihoon because they were his best friends after all.

"Wow, congrats!!!" Seokmin immediately broke out his signature smile which brought rainbows and sunshines and all those pleasant things that Jihoon would have none of as he stood far away from the hyper duo, who were now engaged in a choking hug.

"Yeaaahhhh---- wait, congrats on what?"

"You're joking, right?" Jihoon facepalmed, already getting secondhand embarrassment from his friend's obliviousness.

"He obviously returns your feelings!" Seokmin prompted in an obviously much more patient tone than Jihoon's.

"My... feelings?"

"Oh. My. God."

"Jihoon-hyung, stay strong!"

Soonyoung ignored Jihoon's cursing and Seokmin's futile attempts at calming the older vocalist down in the background. The possibility of him having feelings for Junhui... Well, he wouldn't say it was absurd, but what exactly were they? In the first place, what was he supposed to do with that information? What was he supposed to do with these supposed "feelings" he had?

In the end, there wasn't a use for them, so he decided to put them away.

If only that were so easy, then the world wouldn't be filled with broken hearts. He really thought he had reached his limit when he saw Junhui and Mingyu enter the room, their arms entangled as they chattered over what appeared to be something on Mingyu's phone. Soonyoung had no idea when those two started to form such a strong relationship, but was then reminded of the phone call that occurred during his "date" with Junhui, as Jihoon and Seokmin were referring to it.

"Minghao, listen! Mingyu is so untrustworthy-"

"Jun-hyung's the one who-"

Look, they were already having their little lovers' spat already. Soonyoung thought to himself bitterly before wiping the negative thoughts out of his head as he approached the laughing trio with his usual smile.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Soonyoung!"

"Soonyoung-hyung!"

All three scrambled to hide Mingyu's phone when they realized Soonyoung was standing right behind them. How suspicious, why was Soonyoung getting excluded? It seemed like Junhui had suddenly changed his entire posse after a short break.

"We were talking about... uh..."

"We were trying to make our own mooncakes at Mingyu's house, and-" the rest of Minghao's explanation was a blur to Soonyoung as he felt a migraine coming on. Junhui apparently visited Mingyu's place during Chuseok? Even though he flatly rejected Soonyoung's offer? Not to mention Minghao was also there? All right, maybe that was a good thing. At least it wasn't just those two together or whatever, right?

"O-oh, I see... sounds like you guys had fun though." Soonyoung laughed in a robotic manner as Mingyu and Minghao scowled lightly at his odd behavior.

"Soonyoung, can we talk for a bit?" Junhui was the only one who made an actual move though, indicating towards the kitchen with a slight tilt of his head.

Things couldn't get any worse than this, so why bother to fight anymore? Was what Soonyoung thought as he followed Junhui into the secluded space, trying to ignore Minghao's concerned whispers to Mingyu and the other's replies full of confusion.

Junhui walked over to the sink and leaned against the edge, looking over at Soonyoung, who was standing stiffly near the counter, a significant amount of distance between them as uncomfortable silence drawled out.

"I'm sorry."

Soonyoung blinked, that was definitely not what he expected to be the first thing that came out of Junhui's mouth. "For what?"

"About the 'kiss'. Just forget about it. I mean, it must be a bother to you, knowing that a guy like me likes you-"

"You like me?"

It was Junhui's turn to blink as he tilted his head slightly, "Yeah? I thought I made it pretty clear...?"

"How could I have possibly understood? You need to use your words!" Soonyoung scolded, but relief was clearly written all over his face as he relaxed his shoulders and stepped closer to Junhui, "Come on, I know your Korean is better than that!" He smiled teasingly as a sheepish grin appeared on Junhui's face.

It wasn't a very grand confession scene like what those cheesy television dramas showed, and in hindsight, it may have seemed quite anticlimactic, but Soonyoung was satisfied. It was strange, he was worried about his own feelings for the longest time, yet the solution was much simpler than he had thought.

"...So does this mean I can start calling you my boyfriend?" Junhui suddenly asked, having become abnormally quiet after Soonyoung's teasing, and was looking down at their locked hands with what appears to be bewilderment, as though he couldn't believe things were going so smoothly, this must be a dream, right?

"Of course, do you even need to ask? Wow, you're dense..."

"I really don't think you should be the one saying that." Jihoon grumbled from the side, not even batting an eye when he saw the two re-emerge from the kitchen holding hands.

It wasn't until later on that Soonyoung realized he had never returned Junhui's "I like you", but for some reason he didn't think it would mean anything even if he did. Obviously, it wasn't because he _didn't_ like Junhui, it was just that "like" didn't seem to convey his feelings entirely.

If he were to describe his current feelings, he would probably compare it to a snowball tumbling down the hill. Gradually, gradually growing larger, stronger... and then eventually exploding, not crumbling, exploding. It seemed quite morbid, but what Soonyoung really wanted to say was that... he was so happy he could explode, if only there was a way he could convey this feeling with words...

"Ai."

"Ai?" Soonyoung repeated, slightly dazed as he looked into Junhui's eyes from across the table. The group had decided to spend some time hanging out at the coffee shop downstairs, and Junhui had pulled Soonyoung aside to a table for two. While the rest of the group occasionally made catcalls, they generally left them alone.

"It's how you say 'love' in Mandarin." Junhui replied, smiling gently at Soonyoung as his hand inched closer to Soonyoung's on the table until their fingertips touched.

"...Ai." Soonyoung said again, looking down and intertwining their fingers, "Wo ai ni."

For a moment, he thought he had said it incorrectly as Junhui didn't react. But when he looked up, Junhui was hiding his face behind his free hand, his eyes averted while the tips of his ears flushed red.

"Wo ye ai ni..." Junhui mumbled almost inaudibly while Minghao laughed loudly from the side, explaining to Soonyoung that he had said "I love you, too", even though it was probably pretty simple to figure out. Minghao just liked to tease Junhui, and Soonyoung felt much more comfortable about their little "inside jokes" now. Okay, he wasn't _completely_ comfortable, that was why he's been studying Mandarin, but still, in comparison to before.

Oh right, and about that one time Junhui visited Mingyu's place, the latter had explained to Soonyoung that he and Minghao were helping Junhui out with his "confession" to Soonyoung that he had planned but failed to do in the end. He was apparently going to confess by letting Soonyoung eat a homemade mooncake made by him with a love letter in it.

Minghao had advised him not to do it since the background of the "smuggle messages into mooncakes" story was less than romantic, but Junhui had insisted on making the custom useful somehow.

"Maybe he just wanted you to try a mooncake, to be honest." Minghao had added, "But you know, none of the ones we made were satisfactory, so we ended up eating everything. The one we did succeed in making ended up getting eaten by Mingyu, but he 'salvaged' it by taking a photo before devouring all our hard work." That explained what Soonyoung heard and saw that day then...

"Can you believe the nerve of that guy? He thinks he can make it up to us just by sending us a photo." Minghao continued on with his voice raised, making sure that Mingyu could hear them.

"Hey, it's a great photo!" Mingyu insisted as the two 97-liners argued over Soonyoung's head. Just a typical day, to be honest.

Junhui had disappeared off to somewhere with Wonwoo and Seungkwan, probably to get groceries. The three have been spending a fairly large amount of free time together, insistent on making up for lost time during Wonwoo's sick period.

The old Soonyoung would have felt extremely queasy at the thought of the Chinese dancer having his own private plans with other members, and Soonyoung never thought the day he'd be completely at peace with it would come. Yet here he was, enjoying his own alone time, not worrying about where their relationship was exactly heading or if Junhui had suddenly grown tired of him.

Well, if that were really the case then he wouldn't even be thinking about Junhui right now.

It wasn't like he didn't trust Junhui, it was just, well, he was worried that he was the only one actually "into" their relationship. Maybe it was just a casual fling for Junhui, who knows what goes on his head?

"I need to know what he's doing." Soonyoung announced, pushing himself off his seat only to be pressed back down by Minghao and Mingyu.

"No. No, you don't." Mingyu said flatly as  Minghao shook his head on the side. "Jun-hyung never interrupts your private meals with Jihoon-hyung and Jisoo-hyung."

"Well, yeah, that's true, but I-"

"No."

"Just a peek-"

"No."

Mingyu definitely wasn't budging, and Minghao looked as though he wasn't afraid to pull out his wushu moves if Soonyoung continued to struggle. Granted, Soonyoung had his own fair knowledge of martial arts, but he wasn't about to tear the house down for this.

The days continued on with Soonyoung training himself to keep his jealousy in check, with the help of the other members, of course. Eventually he was able to keep his cool completely even when Junhui was being particularly handsy with Jisoo while Soonyoung was sitting in the front during a V live.

Much to Soonyoung's surprise, however, Junhui confronted him about his "intimate actions" with Wonwoo later on when they exited the room with the rest of the Performance Unit. Junhui seemed slightly troubled by his own jealousy, but Soonyoung only laughed, feeling relieved that he wasn't the only one with a "problem".

Of course, even after they had a talk over it, neither of them could get rid of their jealousy completely, but at least they could read their partner's facial expressions better now. Junhui was always quick to put an arm around Soonyoung's waist when the younger dancer started to pout, and Soonyoung also made sure to stand closer to Junhui or flash him brief but assuring glances when they were forced into a formation that separated them.

"How about this? Every time I make you jealous, I'll give you a kiss." Junhui had suggested jokingly one day.

"...You know that will just make me pretend to be jealous, right?" Soonyoung mumbled, a slight blush spreading along his cheeks. He didn't understand how Junhui could say such cheesy stuff without even a second thought.

"That's fine with me, then I can kiss you more." Junhui laughed before quickly sneaking one while Soonyoung gaped in shock.

It all seemed so surreal to Soonyoung, especially since Junhui was such a blushing mess when they shared their first kiss. In fact, Soonyoung had to be the one to initiate it because of Junhui's embarrassment.

"...S-should I kiss you now?" Junhui had stuttered while looking into Soonyoung's eyes at the end of their first date. Of course Junhui walked Soonyoung home, they lived together, what else was he supposed to do? Not only did he do that, he also walked Soonyoung back to his room. Well, since they were roommates, he kind of had to do that as well. But get this, he walked Soonyoung to his _bed_.

"Come on, you're the one who did the 'through-the-glass' kiss!" Soonyoung had teased, perching on the edge of his bed and looking up at Junhui teasingly.

"T-that was different! There was something in-between... To be honest, I still can't believe I can touch you like this." Junhui muttered, covering his face with one hand while his free hand was busy intwining his fingers with Soonyoung's. 

Soonyoung found it endearing how Junhui had the habit of burying his face in his hands when expressing embarrassment or shyness, the contrast with his stage persona was really something. 

"Well, you better believe it." The younger dancer took advantage of their intertwined fingers and pulled Junhui down, their lips bumped together clumsily and the latter was frozen stiff when he realized what was happening, "Okay, that was bad, let's try that again."

"What- mmph!"

This time Soonyoung tried to aim better, but it definitely still needed improvement. The younger male tried to adjust their position in the midst of their kiss, and he could practically feel the heat rising in Junhui's cheeks-

"Oookay, I think that's enough for today!" Junhui gasped, pushing himself up, looking completely flustered by Soonyoung's boldness.

"Just for _today_ , right? I get more chances tomorrow?"

"Yes, yes, stop pouting."

Their dating status had entered a peaceful post-honeymoon period, and they continued to exchange mini language classes. Today was Soonyoung's turn to teach Junhui, and they had made themselves thoroughly comfortable on the sofa, with Soonyoung comfortably snoodled up in Junhui's arms while Junhui read his notes over Soonyoung's head, his chin resting gently on Soonyoung's shoulder.

"I need to work on my handwriting... I can't even read it myself." Junhui complained as Soonyoung laughed, reaching up to pat Junhui's cheek comfortingly.

"It's not that bad~"

"You're just saying that to be nice."

"Try me."

Soonyoung expected Junhui to give him his notebook, but the latter held up Soonyoung's hand instead, he then gently traced his fingers across Soonyoung's palm, which the younger boy eventually figured out that he was air writing something on it.

"Wait, wait, do that again!"

_Will... You... Marry... Me...?_

* * *

Even though Soonyoung had said yes almost immediately, more like, screamed yes, they were unfortunately reminded that same-sex marriage wasn't exactly supported in either of their hometowns, so what did they do? Have a private marriage in their old studio where they first met. Seungkwan acted as the officiant, even though Seungcheol and Jisoo also fought for the position. Jeonghan tried to, but then figured he'd rather sit down instead of stand in the front for the entire ceremony.

It wasn't anything grand, just the band members in simple seats, semi-formal wear, and they even managed to have their parents present... virtually. All hail technology. It was less than ideal, but good enough for the two of them.

When he heard about their plans, Seungkwan looked as though he was going to faint and insisted that they were going to do a do-over wedding one day with him as their wedding planner. For now he was going to "respect their wishes, even though they sucked."

Soonyoung walked down the makeshift aisle, carrying his iPad that was making the video call with his parents, then set it down on one of the seats when he got to the front. Junhui smiled brightly at him, brushing a gentle hand across his cheek. They had both decided not to wear makeup for the event, since they were constantly being caked with it while they worked, it was a good change of pace.

Besides, they had always insisted that the other looked better without makeup, why not prove it?

"...You look breathtaking."

"Clearly not, you're still breathing." Soonyoung joked as Junhui rolled his eyes, giving him a light pat on the head playfully.

Now it was the time to exchange vows, Soonyoung knew he had this in the bag, he's been preparing for this for over months. Junhui was going down. He swore he loved his fiancee, really.

"Kwon Soonyoung, I still remember the first day you introduced yourself to me. To be honest, I still think about it from time to time. If you hadn't done that, well, I probably would have given up on starting a career in Korea, and I would have missed.. everything that makes me happy in the present. With every smile you've given me, I promise to return it over a thousand folds."

Soonyoung's grin grew even wider, it was just what he expected from Junhui. A formal, short but sweet speech. He had the urge to pull him down and kiss him right then and there, but first he needed to see jaws drop.

_"Wen Junhui, I remember all the fun times we had as trainees, and the misunderstandings which our relationship was initially built upon. I've learned so much from you, both intellectually and emotionally, and I promise to continue being your humble student and counselor for eternity."_

Oh yeah, Junhui's jaw had dropped all right, and he could hear buzzing coming from the "guests".

"Y-you spoke Cantonese..." Junhui managed to stutter out after overcoming his daze. Soonyoung had literally just slapped him in the face out of nowhere with his mother tongue. It wasn't just Mandarin, it was bloody _Cantonese_. Soonyoung had delivered his entire wedding vow in Junhui's mother tongue, and the latter was at a loss for words.

"Yes, I did~" Soonyoung replied proudly, nuzzling his face closer to Junhui while Seungkwan stuck his hand between the middle to prevent them from spoiling the kiss moment, "I told you we'd be even! I mean, you delivered yours in Korean, it's only fair, right?"

"I, um..." Junhui mumbled, covering his face bashfully with one hand. He never thought Soonyoung would be the one to bring him tears, yet here he was on the verge of crying at his own wedding. Makeshift wedding. And it only took a couple of words. "I just..." Still at a loss for words, Junhui leaned down and kissed Soonyoung as Seungkwan threw his arms up in exasperation.

"Okay, whatever, you're officiated, oh my gosh."

"Sorry, Seungkwanie, we can start over-"

"No, the damage has already been done. But don't worry, there will be a do-over wedding, I can promise you that."

The wedding was, in brutally honest words, a complete mess, but the couple figured it was indeed a wedding for SVT. Everyone laughing together, crying together, giving threats to the couple if they don't make each other happy... No better place to be, right?

Soonyoung gently squeezed Junhui's hand, looking up at his not-exactly-official-but-pretty-much-husband. The two shared another kiss, and it will surely not be the last one for many more years to come.

* * *

"You're sure they like the album, right?" Soonyoung continued to fret as Junhui put a comforting hand over his on the table, leaning over to whisper encouraging calming words in his unit leader's ear. The three leaders were always especially nervous for their first fanmeet of each comeback, so the other members were all doing their best to assure them everything was going to be okay.

"All right, let's just smile, get ready for the questions regarding inspiration and such, you guys know the drill." Jihoon muttered, even though his hands were shaking under the table. Seokmin and Jeonghan were quick to put their hands over Jihoon's to calm their main vocalist and producer down.

"Here comes the first question..." Junhui muttered in Soonyoung's ear as the MC pointed towards a raised hand in the crowd.

"I'd like to ask... How come only Jun-oppa and Hoshi-oppa have two rings?"

_...Oops._

 


End file.
